Connor and the Wolves - 13. Wolf's Choice

They met on the flagship after the raid. The general mood seemed mixed — many pilots were grumbling about the repair costs for their ships, and Elyon was raging at being knocked out before the mining had even started. But the thirty gold payment Khurtschono sent to each participating guild member shut down most complaints. That was more than enough for repairs, upgrades, and even enhanced gear.
“Where the fuck did you get this money?” James demanded.
“This wasn’t a mining raid,” Khurtschono said, sending another message with gold to Soren. “The Mydaran Miners have enemies that wanted to see them brought low.” Her cursor hovered over Blankwolf, and she typed a message quickly. “They paid us rather well to send a message and promised to cover casualties. Hey, Blankwolf, give our warmest to your masters.”
“What the fuck-?”
It was the first, and last, time Khurtschono heard his voice.
“Sorry about the unpleasantness. Soren informed me we had a mole in the guild.” Khurtschono deleted Blankwolf from the guild and PackTalk. “For anyone questioning my actions, CatDog and I have noticed that Blankwolf had been with us for a couple of months, yet his raid team always seems to be down a healer. He’s been lurking in voice chat, and while that’s perfectly fine — I know some of us are a bit shy — we noticed he has a bad habit of sticking around more confidential meetings. I made sure to plan tonight's events rather openly with CatDog over the last couple of days, and Blankwolf was the only other participant in those chats.”
“Yeah, seems suspicious,” Elyon spoke up after a moment, his voice lacking the edge it had carried through the raid.
“Glad you agree with us,” CatDog said, his voice carrying his usual mirth. “Let me know if you need help rebuilding. I could use some more gold.”
“Thirty gold isn’t enough for you?” Elyon challenged.
“Hardly. I want to add a fifth deck to my ship.”
“Well then, I’ll be in touch.”
Khurtschono leaned back in her chair as the last message was sent and the gold distributed. A glance at the time showed it was nearly ten, and she sighed. They were late.
“Okay everyone, it’s past Altanmuur’s bedtime-” “The fuck it is,” Altanchono interjected. “-so we’re logging off for the night. Good work keeping our ships together. If anyone managed to actually pick up some hydrogen or oxygen before it all went up in flames, feel free to donate or sell. And a big thank you to Soren.” She looked across the table, flashing a smile at the human. “Without his help, we would have been ruined.”
“Yeah, nice shot, Soren. The Miners won’t be getting their fleet going again for at least another hour.” Laughs echoed through the chat, and Khurtschono shook her head with a sigh at the man’s confusion.
“The Miners are a big guild. You saw that tonight. Between their crafters and their hunters, they have more than enough materials to rebuild the fleet we — you — destroyed tonight. This was more to send a message. They can be defeated, and it doesn’t even take numbers to do it.”
“I’m just glad they didn’t have time to upgrade their armour against elemental attacks,” CatDog said. “Probably got cocky and thought their antimagic field would work.”
“The field had to work. They had maybe an hour to intercept us,” Khurtschono pointed out. “Anyway, I’m off for the night. If anyone has any further questions or complaints, send them to CatDog or keep them to yourself.”
She shut off voice chat and the computer. Looking over at Altanchono, Khurtschono nodded toward the door.
“I really hate to vanish on you, but I have to get Altanchono to bed,” she said to Soren. “Thanks for inviting us over.”
“I’m not six years old anymore,” Altanchono grumbled, closing his own laptop.
“It’s fine.” Soren smiled at them. “I need to head to bed myself. You two know your way home from here, right?”
“Ye-”
“Actually, I think we might need some help,” Altanchono interrupted.
“We do not,” Khurtschono insisted. “It’s just through the woods.” She grabbed her brother, dragging him out the front door. “Come on. I’m sure Soren wants to get some sleep.”
She heard the door close behind them, cutting off Altanchono’s complaints. It didn’t stop him from grumbling the entire walk home.

Wet fur plopped into the trash. Khurtschono shook her hand out, grimacing at the soapy slime left on her fingers. A dip under the faucet took care of the grime, and she started the lengthy process of brushing her fur out while she blew it dry.
She was almost certain some of the wet fur was Altanchono’s. Khurtschono didn’t have that much orange in her. But complaining about it was only going to cause a fight, and after the raid, Khurtschono just wanted to sleep until noon.
“Hurry up in there!” Altanchono’s voice shattered her thoughts, his hand slapping against the bathroom door.
“You got a warrant?” Khurtschono called, running the dryer over her fuzzy chest.
“What?”
“No entry without a warrant!”
“Come on, Khurtsaa, I have to pee!”
Khurtschono grumbled, shutting off the dryer. She’d just be wet tonight. Not that Altanchono would care.
Or would he?
Wrapping a towel around herself, Khurtschono threw open the door, storming past the orange neko.
“Enjoy the bathroom!” she called over her shoulder as the bathroom door slammed shut.
She tossed the towel aside as soon as she was in their room, flopping onto a bed. Burying herself under the covers, she rolled around, drying herself as best as she could.
Laying in her own bed, she sent one last message on PackTalk before plugging her phone in.
“Why is my bed soaked?!”
“Is it?” Khurtschono shrugged, watching Altanchono leap out of his bed. “I didn’t feel anything.”
“Well, maybe I didn’t notice all your makeup going into the sink,” Altanchono shot back.
Growling, Khurtschono shifted, a brindle wolf bristling at Altanchono. Her brother followed her lead, and the two wolves circled each other in the room’s confines. Altanchono’s eyes widened, and he ducked. Khurtschono leapt at the opening, just missing the other wolf as he dropped low. She spun around.
The sharp smell of vinegar struck her nose an instant before the water. Yelping at the sting, Khurtschono slammed her nose into the bed, frantically wiping across the sheets.
“You two better knock it off or I’ll get Ma,” Skylar said from the door, pointing a water gun between the wolves.
Altanchono growled at her. Skylar shot a stream of vinegar at the wolf, and he yelped, scrambling under his bed. Khurtschono backed away, lowering her head as Skylar turned the water gun on her.
“Now go to bed. Don’t make me come back in here.”
From under the bed, Altanchono growled again, glaring until Skylar closed the door.
Once the coast was clear, Khurtschono crawled onto her bed, spinning around with a quiet grunt. Neat linen hugged the bed tight. That would not do. It needed to be rumpled, and well slept in, or it just wouldn’t be comfortable.
A body slammed into her. Khurtschono tumbled off the bed with a yelp. Spinning on the floor, she glared at Altanchono, who was busy messing up her bed. The cream wolf growled, just daring his sister to try to reclaim her bed. Any attempt would certainly risk Skylar’s attention.
Grunting, Khurtschono stalked to the door, flicking it open with a foot pedal. As soon as the door shut behind her, the brindle wolf trudged downstairs and slipped outside.
After the week she’d had, perhaps a night wolfed out in the stables was just what she needed.

Khurtschono awoke in the woods. The full moon shone brightly, revealing tents scattered among the dark trees. Figures moved through the tents, shadowy and vague, yet their presence comforted her somehow. She was with her people.
“You must choose.”
She whipped her head around. No one stood near, yet that voice had been right in her ear. Turning in a slow circle, Khurtschono froze at the sight of a burning torch.
“One will let you fulfil your wolven instincts.”
Darkness swarmed around the torch, blinding her to all but the light. The pitch-black retreated, and Khurtschono’s breath caught in her throat. Miles stood by the torch, toned body on display. Her eyes strayed down instinctively, but the shadows lurking around her vision seemed intent on stealing that pleasure from her, covering her prize. The elf smiled warmly, inviting her, calling to her.
“One can show you things you never imagined.”
Her head turned, facing another torch.
“Soren?”
The human stood in the shadows, his dark skin nearly blending in. He held out a hand… with a flatbread pie? Khurtschono took a faltering step, sniffing. Pepper… and mushrooms… with deer meat, just like the pie he’d made for the raid.
Another step… and then another… but Miles was the other way. She was abandoning her mate?
Their lips met. No… not their lips. Khurtschono bit down in surprise, tearing through the pie — why was that between them? Why was she shrinking?
Her vision flashed. She was a fox… or was she following the fox as it bounded into the sky, racing to the moon. Why were dreams so weird-?
Her eyes shot open.
A cricket chirped in the distance, repetitive rustling grating in her ears. Horses grunted around her, pawing at the shavings in their stalls. Over her head, bright lights illuminated the barn. Was it five in the morning already?
“And what are you doing out here?”
Khurtschono tilted her head, eying her mother over the stall door. Her tail slapped the stall mat, and she huffed.
“Go get dressed. You’re not getting out of morning chores just because you decided to sleep in the barn.”
The wolf stretched out, yawning widely. She rolled to her feet and ambled out of the stall. It was early morning, but already there was much to do.